Romania's Sweetheart
by RootsOfAHotelWindow
Summary: Set in OotP, after Harry is proven innocent. Charlie Weasley's arrival at Grimmauld Place doesn't please everyone, and as he tries to gain Sirius' friendship, secrets are told that neither can take back. Eventual Charlie/Sirius.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

When he arrived, everyone at Number 12, Grimmauld Place was distracted. Harry concentrated on his roast chicken, glad that he would be returning to Hogwarts this year. Ron and Hermione were watching the war dance that the twins and Ginny were scuffing The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black's kitchen floor with, and Mrs Weasley was doing her best to stop them. Sirius Black was glaring at Harry's roast chicken.

"He got off, he got off, he go- CHARLIE!" Fred, George and Mrs Weasley all hurled themselves at him, while Ron smirked at Ginny.

"Charlie, what are you doing here?" Mrs Weasley was refusing to relinquish hold of her second son.

"Ah Mum, do you mind? Thanks." Nodding at the others, receiving smiles from most and a raised eyebrow from Sirius, he dropped his bag and sat down. "Well, there was a setback with the recruiting, and that setback came to get revenge yesterday. It's no big deal, honestly," he added hastily, after a glance at his mother's face, "just a little misunderstanding, but the Senior Handler thought it would be a good time to get away from Romania for a few days." His mother's hands were on his hips, and her lips were pursed in a way that suggested she wanted every little detail.

"Oh Mum, that chicken looks so good, I managed to miss lunch as well..." As soon as he said it, Mrs Weasley was bustling around the kitchen, with mutters of, "My poor Charlie."

George hustled up to Charlie. "So, what's the story bro?"

"Didn't manage to break up another arranged marriage between two of the oldest wizarding families in Romania, did we?"

"Or perhaps that giant reconsidered propositioning you?"

"By George, I think I've got it!" Fred sniggered and slapped George's thigh, "You snogged Greyback again!"

"That wasn't his fault! You know the Ridgeback was giving off pheromones and some just transferred onto Charlie, he couldn't help it!" Ginny's ferocious glare at Fred made him step back a pace.

"Thanks Gin." Charlie pulled her away with a hug, and then he stood up and offered Sirius his hand. "I'm Charlie, and I'm really sorry about this." Sirius took the hand offered to him, noticing youth did not make his hand any smoother than Sirius' own.

"You'll be the dragon tamer then? And no worries, one more Weasley won't be the death of me. But do tell your story; I'm as intrigued as the brats to why you've turned up."

Charlie's eyes flickered towards toward his mother's back, and before she could notice the silence had lasted longer than was necessary for a good son, who wasn't keeping anything from his mother, he held his hands out in a placating gesture and said, "Look, I'm not telling you the specifics before I tell Dumbledore, but it honestly isn't very interesting. Is there anywhere I can throw down my bag?" He looked at Sirius.

"Yeah, Kreacher's den."

"Sirius Black, my son will not be talked to like that! You've got plenty of space and poor Charlie needs a decent night's sleep! You should be offering to sleep on the floor, he's done so much for-"

"Mum!"

Sirius shot Mrs Weasley a sour look and replied coldly, "I was only joking, Molly. Your son can sleep up on the fourth floor with me." Charlie innocently ate his chicken sandwich. "How did you get in here anyway?"

Charlie placed his sandwich down on the plate and finished his mouthful. "When Dumbledore told me what I would be doing, he told me about this place too." Sirius looked at him with thinly veiled suspicion. "I was thinking we could all go the Leaky Cauldron for a drink later on. Do you fancy it?"

It was clearly meant to be a mollifying gesture for Sirius, but the reminder of his imprisonment caused him to leave the room, muttering something about being the Order's Headquarters and how someone had to stay home and just because there was a war on, there was no reason to get drunk.

As Harry followed on the heels of his godfather, Charlie turned to his family. "Well I guess it could be just for family then?"

Ginny patted his arm sympathetically. "Sirius isn't allowed out."

Fred's eyes were on the doorway. "On account of the general public still thinking he murdered his best mate and his woman."

"And Voldemort knows he's a dog."

Charlie raised his eyebrow. "Animagus," added George hastily.

Mrs Weasley noticed the contemplative look on Charlie's face, and sat down next to him. "Honestly Charlie, you'd think the man would be happy to be out of the way when you think about what happened last time, but it's the same every meeting. He may not think much of Dumbledore for making him stay in, but it's for the best really." She patted his hand and rose to clean up Harry's abandoned plate, swishing her wand around above the sink.

"He gets a bit stir crazy alright, but you can't blame the man really, who'd want to be holed up in this miserable place all the time?" Ron winced under the look his mother gave him. "Course the place has been empty for years, and I'm sure it'll be lovely when we finish cleaning..."

Mrs Weasley nodded at Ron, and replied, "It better be, I'm not having the lot of you doing nothing when there's work to be done. Anyway," she said, raising her voice, "Get out from the kitchen and let me have a chat with Charlie, all of you. Sorry dear, I need to check he's been eating and wearing clean underwear," Hermione smiled at Mrs Weasley and stood up to leave, as Fred and George snickered. "STOP! What's that in your pocket George?"

Fred spun around and made a show of turning his pockets inside out, while Charlie saw George tuck an Extendable Ear inside his jeans. "Do you think this is funny? GEORGE!"

"All this distrust, mother, I don't know why- OW! Alright, look at them, they're empty-OW! Get off my ear!" Mrs Weasley glared at her son, who was rubbing his left ear.

"So are we off then?" Ginny said lightly.

No you are not! Ginny, Ron, you are not going!" Over the twins shouting that they were of age, she added, "Of age you may be, but you're not leaving this house unless Charlie is left to eat his food in peace! OUT!"

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><p><em><strong>Set in OotP, right after Harry is proven innocent. Thank you to SpiritedDreaming for beta-ing, and I just want to say that title are so much harder than summaries ¬¬<strong>_


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"Transfiguration was always one of my strong points actually Tonks, the one class I saw as entirely relevant to my life." Sirius grinned at Remus, who tried not to look too amused in front of Molly. "Now you go, which subject would you teach at Hogwarts?"

"Honestly Sirius, couldn't you talk about something less childish?" Molly was sipping a glass of wine and feeling entirely uncomfortable not bustling around.

Tonks and Sirius shared a look that went unnoticed, and Molly continued, "Some of us can't afford the time to be playing make-believe." Molly's disapproval was cut short as she took in Tonks' presence. She turned a deep red and started muttering that of course everyone would have _some_ time for make believe, and if an Auror could do it, so could she.

"Excellent! Go on Molly." Sirius leaned back on his chair and beamed at her.

"Well I always had a knack for it, so it would probably be – CHARLIE!"

"Mum! And the blokes!" Charlie saluted Remus and Sirius. "And there's Tonks. I kissed Tonks! You remember don't you, it was truth or dare. I didn't want to kiss you, but you're lovely and you pretended to look like a bloke."

Tonks pretended to drop her wand and ducked her head under the table. "Charlie, you're very late coming home," Molly started weakly.

"It was lovely because I don't like women!" Charlie looked crossly at the room, until he spotted his mother. He enveloped her in a hug and whispered furtively, "Except you of course. I like you, because you're my mum, and you make me lasagne and potatoes and brown bread and..."

Molly searched the room in desperation, and her gaze settled on a certain Marauder. "Sirius, can you take Charlie to his room?" He muttered mutinously but took Charlie away from her hands with a firm grasp on his forearms.

Molly sat down, and gave Remus a small smile. Suddenly she jumped up and started cursing.

"Molly what is it?" asked an alarmed Remus.

"Fred and George haven't come back!"

* * *

><p>"And bacon and cabbage and fried eggs and-"<p>

"_Alohomora_." Regulus' bedroom door opened. "Bedroom's there, bathroom opposite. Lock the door unless you'd like to wake up to a perverted old elf in your room. Goodnight."

Charlie was taken aback by Sirius' abruptness. "Mate," Charlie whispered. Sirius turned around.

Charlie's hips swung independently of his mind as he walked up to Sirius. And if he stopped a little too close to Sirius, neither man said so.

"I went out, and Fred and George came too. I thought I'd get you something, next best thing to coming with, you know?" Blue eyes tried focussing on grey, and then gave up. Charlie settled on presenting a silent Sirius with a bottle. "I asked Tom, the bartender at the Leaky Cauldron, you know the place don't you? And he said, well he said Remus Lupin tended to... he liked that stuff," Charlie finished off, helpfully pointing at the bottle. "Couldn't very well ask him what you liked! Or James, you and him were closer, weren't you? Can't ask what a dead man's favourite drink is though, _he_ wouldn't appreciate the gesture."

Sirius' lips were pressed tightly together, soft-looking lips, deeply coloured. Charlie's hands were grabbed, he realised he'd been reaching, trying to entwine them in Sirius' silky black hair, use them to pull himself towards those lips-

"Get in." Charlie was brusquely pushed into the room, door snapped shut behind him.

* * *

><p>Sirius was sat in his windowsill, bottle long empty and himself looking through a charmed window, showing the night sky where another terraced house should have been. He was trying hard to make his brain understand that this was what a window was supposed to look like; it was <em>supposed <em>to give the viewer a clear view of the world outside, and there definitely shouldn't be vertical bars blocking his vision. He heard a vague knocking on the door. "Come in," he said, sliding down from the window.

Charlie Weasley stepped in. "Sirius, the bed keeps telling me I'm a blood traitor and a filthy little-"

"Nice to be proven innocent, is it?" Sirius snapped. When he saw a well built Weasley in the doorway of his room, rather than his godson, he huffed. "Oh don't mind it, blasted thing used to call me a ... uh, never mind. It'll get bored eventually," he said in a neutral voice.

"Are you oka-"

"Drink?" Sirius pulled his facial muscles into a resemblance of a grin. As he rummaged around under his bed, Charlie settled himself on the foot, and when Sirius found his target, he threw himself on the bed to take a drink. He put the cork in and tossed it to Charlie. Charlie's mouth dried the tiniest bit as Sirius turned on his side, one arm supporting his head, and the other playing with his open shirt. "Drink," Sirius commanded.

Charlie tore his eyes away from the man to take a large sip of the Firewhiskey, and as grey eyes drew him back, Sirius nodded with an air of acceptance. "You tell me your story; I'll tell you mine."

The younger man swallowed. "Fred was partially right. I managed to break up the arranged marriage between two of the oldest wizarding families in Romania, again. The man is a repressed homosexual with a thing for redheads, what can I do?" Charlie smiled up at a stony-faced Sirius.

"Sirius, _are_ you okay?"

"Thrilled. Harry's been proven innocent, Molly made me cheesecake and you're having the time of your life ruining people's love lives. What more could I want?"

"Yes," said Charlie gently, "What more do you want?"

Sirius' breathing was fragmented, filling the room with his hesitancy. Charlie held the bottle up to Sirius, who sat up and shifted closer to Charlie. Sirius' hands were trembling; Charlie removed the lid from the Firewhiskey. The red head hadn't felt the ache to protect someone so badly since his years at home with his family, and its return at this particular moment made his heart pound with ferocity. Suddenly, Sirius spoke.

"I want a trial; I want to prove I didn't do it." Sirius looked up at Charlie balefully. "I want people to tell me it wasn't my fault that I didn't kill, didn't kill..."

Sirius took a sip of Firewhiskey and put his head in his hands. Charlie almost broke the long silence, but Sirius began with a whisper, "I never cried for them Charlie. I never cried for my best friend or Lily... She was so sweet to me sometimes..." The urge to sooth the confusion and desperation he had induced overcame Charlie. He knelt in front of Sirius, took his right hand and forced him to look up.

Charlie looked Sirius directly in the eyes.

"Tell me what happened that night."

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><p><strong><em>Thanks again to my beta, SpiritedDreaming, and please review!<em>**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Sirius looked at Charlie, and then began speaking. "I didn't cry because I had to kill him. I had to kill Peter." Charlie looked at Sirius like he wanted to interrupt, but Sirius was gradually losing himself in alcohol fuelled memories.

"I went to check on James, Lily and the baby. I often did it, except this time it was...all wrong." Sirius' face was expressionless, and he paused, seemingly unable to continue.

Charlie tried to urge him on. "What happened, Sirius?" This time when Sirius looked up, the emotion on his face was definitely present.

Charlie's blood ran cold at the sight.

* * *

><p>Sirius concentrated on the roar of the machine, charmed and transfigured until it was fit for a Marauder. He relished the feeling of being cold to the bone because he hadn't thought to put a cloak on when he rushed to see his dead best mate, who was going have that slightly miffed look on his face until it rotted off, eaten by worms and maggots and-<p>

Sirius concentrated on the direction that his speedometer was giving him, charmed with three names of boys and pointing him to the place they decided to inhabit on any particular day. Curved about each arrow was a small metal animal, a fat, grey rat, a yellow-eyed werewolf, and that was all the arrows there would ever be after today-

Sirius concentrated on touching down so, so smoothly, as if he were a pilot on one of those airplanes he'd been told about. As he disembarked his motorbike, he realised he was face to face with the man who told him about them.

Sirius concentrated on how he would kill him.

* * *

><p>Sirius' face was stoic, his eyes were hard. Peter took in his cold demeanour and began his lies at once.<p>

"But, you hated Lily! You always said she was the one who stopped all our pranks, made James all responsible and level-headed like..." Peter tried desperately. He tried again, blurting out, "The wicked witch is dead, Padfoot!"

Sirius flinched in disgust; Peter had taken out of context a good, heart-warming memory, of rainy afternoons in sixth year and Sirius telling him fairytales. Sirius could feel the anger he had been trying to suppress ever since Hagrid wouldn't let him have Harry bubble to the surface.

Peter surveyed a silent Sirius. He was shaking, he was- laughing! Peter felt a surge of reassurance and stepped down off the concrete ledge. Smiling up at Sirius, now that they were on the same level, he started, "Siri-"

"Oh Peter. Did you think I would want you now, after you killed my best friend?" Peter's eyes widened and Sirius let out a bitter bark of laughter. "Did the Dark Lord not tell you? Did you think he was doing you a favour, killing Lily? He tried to kill Harry, Peter, a baby!"

Peter recoiled at Sirius' use of his full name, only ever used when Peter made an unwise reference to Sirius being similar to his family. 'I didn't know, Sirius I swear it to you, I didn't mean to hurt-"

"Hurt? You didn't hurt anyone. You killed James, Peter. And now I'll kill you." Peter's eyes scrunched up in fear. Sirius knew Peter wasn't clever enough to save himself from the inevitable for much longer; it was always him that had the panic attacks back in school while James and Sirius explained away their pranks to a teacher. Alarmed by the manic look on Sirius' face, Peter tried to think of how to escape.

"Oh Peter, don't look at me like that. I'll even give you a thirty second start on me. No you don't," snapped Sirius irritably when Peter reached for his wand. The sound of a slap resounded in the alley, and Peter held his stinging face as Sirius continued, still with the manic smile and now with Peter's wand in his hand. "We're going to do things the Muggle way." Peter was furious with himself, his eyes had filled with tears from the slap and as he was trying to blink them away, Sirius suddenly appeared in front of him.

He let out a whimper when Sirius grabbed the back of his neck, forcing him to look him in the eye and smell a mix of spice and tobacco when Sirius opened his mouth, "You have thirty seconds to run you cowardly little rat."

Peter ran. Eyes streaming and terrified, he knocked into an old Muggle lady. Shouts arose but Peter carried on, only to trip onto the rough concrete. He was sprawled out for a moment, before he realised his robes were set alight and he could hear hysterical cackling. He quickly tore them off and rolled away from the burning, panting heavily.

He had just gathered his thoughts when a body landed on top of him. Peter reflexively curled into a ball to protect himself from the punches that were being landed on him. His eyes fell on the rats scurrying away from the commotion and thought to himself, 'If only I had my wand…'

Two soft clinks to his left alerted his attention. Sirius had been bodily lifted off of him by a strong looking Muggle man, and Peter grabbed for his wand.

"Lily and James, Sirius! How could you!"

Peter noticed Sirius grab his own wand and quickly shield himself with a glance, before he blasted away the alley and changed into his other form.

No more than a few seconds later, Sirius was not the only wizard in a street of screaming Muggles and empty corpses. There were wands pointed at him from several directions. One horrified witch asked, "What did you_ do_?"

Sirius started laughing.

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><p><em><strong>Thank you to my beta again, and if you want to leave feedback that'd be lovely. ^^<strong>_


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Sirius Black was on his knees in front of Charlie, tears silently leaking out of his eyes for the first time over something lost more than a decade ago.

"And before I knew it, I was in Azkaban."

"Did you love him?" Hastily, Charlie muttered his apologies, unsure as to where his outburst came from. He guided Sirius to his bed and sat down next to him.

"It doesn't matter now."

"Wait," Charlie said, realising something, "You're not crying about James and Lily, are you? You crying about Peter... you're crying over someone who betrayed you... and killed your friends?"

"So stupid, so fucking stupid..."

The words started spilling out of Charlie's mouth at his discovery. "You trusted him didn't you? You let him hang around with you, get to know you, and you told him fairy stories-"

"Please stop." Sirius choked out, face buried in his hands.

"And _Harry_, James' own son, was proven innocent before you," Charlie said. "You've had to suffer twelve years in Azkaban for nothing, and Harry got away with it. You're the innocent one, not him!"

"That's enough!" Sirius yelled. "What makes you think I'm _not_ capable of murder?" Charlie hesitated, but remained silent.

Sirius was outraged. "Remus- I haven't even told him about that night! You come in here with your bloody drink and take advantage!" Sirius was breathing heavily, tear tracks having wound themselves down his concave cheeks. How unfair, he thought, here I am crying over one betrayal when another one appears right in front of me.

"Betrayal after betrayal," spat Sirius, turning his back on the Weasley boy who was lying frozen on his bed. He had just placed his hand on the doorknob when he heard him say something.

"I just wanted to get to know you better," Charlie whispered.

"Why? See something you like?" mocked Sirius, gesturing at himself with a hand that was far from smooth. He knew none of his former handsomeness could be seen; his grey eyes were dull, his poor face lined and hard, and he was scrawny compared to his glory days, where he was toned and groomed to perfection. Sirius knew Charlie was taking all this in, and seeing a man who was little more than a ghost.

"Yes," said Charlie quietly. The sincerity in his voice caused all of Sirius' anger to dissipate within a moment. "And I can show you something, it might not make up for it but..."

Charlie lifted up his shirt and reached below it to undo his belt buckle. He shucked his jeans and Sirius' mouth went dry, but he couldn't avert his eyes. Charlie pushed up the right side of his boxers, revealing the strong muscles of his upper thigh. He stood in front of Sirius and gestured for him to look. There were two dragons, curled around each other on the inside of his thigh.

"It's for my uncles," Charlie whispered. "They were-"

"Fabian and Gideon. I remember them, don't you worry." Sirius was captivated by the couple, one hiding from his gaze and the other using its body to protect it. "They're beautiful," murmured Sirius, laying a hand on Charlie's leg. The shiver he caused went unnoticed.

"They're a bit shy, no one except me has seen them," Charlie said softly.

This caught Sirius' attention. He drew his eyes away from the dragon tattoo and tilted his head in confusion at Charlie. "But surely you can't hide them when you're with someone..."

"I haven't, not since I got it. I was seventeen."

Sirius' eyes widened. "How old are you now?"

"I'm 23, which is the same age as you when you think about it, your Azkaban years shouldn't count. So, no one but me has seen these two in six years, and no one has been with me in six years." Charlie held Sirius' gaze for a significant time, and then added "But you've seen them."

"Yes," Sirius said, realising suddenly that his hand was still on Charlie's thigh. "So no one but you has seen them..." Sirius trailed off, in what he hoped was a suggestive way. "I suppose that means you did them yourself," he finished pathetically.

Charlie sighed quietly in disappointment. "I did."

"I haven't done this in a long time." Sirius said eventually, meeting Charlie's eyes, pleading with him to take control.

Charlie leaned in to kiss Sirius. Sirius remembered the feel of warm lips against his own. He remembered the unique feel of a young man as he feel Charlie's muscles ripple under his hand as Charlie moved closer.

He realised the difference between kisses he had known previously and Charlie's kiss when it became more insistent. Sirius pulled away.

"What's wrong?" Charlie asked, concerned and slightly breathless.

Sirius ignored him, and leaned in again determinedly. The kiss started out the same as the one preceding it, but then lips parted and tongues touched and neither of them knew which one had started it, but they both took pleasure from this change. Charlie pulled away from Sirius after a few minutes, allowing the both of them a few private moments of getting their breathing back to normal.

"Not bad," Charlie commented.

Sirius grey eyes lit up and he laughed. "You just wait until I show you what else I can do."

* * *

><p>Sirius had Charlie's head in his lap and was stroking his red hair on Sirius' bed. He decided even though they had shared only a few more kisses since the first night, he would vaguely miss the dragon handler when Dumbledore confirmed the situation in Romania had cleared up and he could go home.<p>

They had been talking about the children going back to Hogwarts that morning, and Sirius' unwise choice to see off Harry. Sirius had appreciated Charlie's personality that meant he didn't scream at Sirius for his lack of judgement like his mother, but teased Sirius gently about the pigeon feathers that were in his mouth when he transformed back to human, and only mentioned the dangers Sirius could have faced as a means to let him know he was cared about. They had then settled into a companionable silence.

"Sirius?"

"Hmm?"

"Would you go out with me?"

Sirius chuckled and smoothed down Charlie's hair. Charlie was affronted and sat up, batting Sirius' hands away. "I was serious Sirius!"

This only made Sirius' laughs grow, and he said, "Because of a couple of kisses? I've done more with people whose names I never knew."

"Just because you were a slut back when," Charlie said, with a hint of bitterness, "It doesn't mean you can't be in a relationship with someone who wants you now."

Sirius began to realise Charlie wasn't lying about his intentions, and he struggled to think of a reason to explain that he was too old, damaged, wretched for a relationship. "I can't leave Harry."

"Harry's not a child, Sirius. He can look after himself." Charlie glared at Sirius.

Both men winced as they heard a commotion from downstairs, along with shouts of "Mudbloods! Blood-traitors! Muggle-lovers!"

"I'm guessing it's Dumbledore," said Sirius brightly. "I'm the only other Muggle-lover here, your lot are all blood-traitors."

Charlie had an idea and suddenly slid off the bed. "I'll be back- I just want to ask Dumbledore something!"

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><p><em><strong>Many thanks to SpiritedDreaming for beta-ing this. Please be awesome and leave some feedback :)<strong>_


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